AP Tops In Elections Cash Seizures: CEC Sampath

Of all the cash seized by election authorities across the country, nearly 46% seizures were made in Andhra Pradesh itself.

Addressing a press conference at Jubilee Hall here, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath informed that Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana) leads in the amount of unaccounted cash seized since the issue of election notification.

About Rs. 105 crores has been seized by the authorities, and 1,142 FIRs were issued in this connection.

Further, about 3.02 lakh litres of liquor was also seized, and over 29,290 cases were booked.

Sampath informed that 85 Expenditure Observers have been appointed for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In addition, 126 Assistance Expenditure Observers, 1,104 Flying Squads and 1,060 Statistics Assistants have also been deputed.

He said that about 33 lakh young people aged 18-20 years had been enrolled as voters in the recent past.

And as many as 70,171 polling stations had been set up to facilitate 6.48 crore voters in the State, including 3.22 crore women, to cast their votes on April 30 and May 7. A total of 25,390 polling stations had also been categorised as critical.

The CEC warned the political parties and candidates against making attempts to bribe the voters. He said that cases under Section 171 (B) of the IPC would be booked against them, which would result in imprisonment of up to 1 year if proved guilty.

Sampath informed that about 11-12 lakh EVMs were being used for the upcoming elections. Brand new EVMs were being used for Andhra Pradesh.

He said that arrangements had been made to replace defective EVMs within a hour. He also mentioned that single-window permissions were being given to political parties and candidates to conduct meetings and rallies.

He directed the Chief Secretary to ensure uninterrupted power supply, drinking water and other facilities in the polling stations on the polling days.

Election Commissioners Dr. Naseem Ahmed Zaidi and H S Brahma, and Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwarlal were also present.

Earlier, the CEC held review meetings with the representatives of all political parties, Chief Secretary Dr. P K Mohanty, DGP B Prasada Rao, District Collectors, SPs and other senior officials. (INN)